Regional genetic structuring and evolutionary history of the impala Aepyceros melampus

Samples of 162 impala antelope (Aepyceros melampus) from throughout its distribution range in sub-Saharan Africa were surveyed using eight polymorphic microsatellite loci. It is suggested that the presence of such previously unknown regional structuring within the subspecies reflects a pattern of colonization from a formerly large panmictic population in southern Africa toward east Africa.